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Safety technology could prevent thousands of truck crashes

Pennsylvania truck drivers may be interested to learn that equipping large commercial vehicles with video-enhanced safety technology could prevent up to 63,000 trucking accidents each year. A study from the AAA Foundation for Truck Safety showed that the benefits of installing this technology well outweighed the cost.

In 2015, there were more than 400,000 vehicle accidents involved large trucks. Ultimately, these accidents resulted in more than 116,000 injuries and 4,000 fatalities. Analysts concluded that departure warning systems for trucks could prevent up to 6,372 accidents. Video-based monitoring systems could prevent 63,000 crashes while automatic braking could prevent up to 5,294 crashes. Finally, air disc brakes could prevent up to 2,411 crashes.

Further, the majority of motorists report feeling uneasy when they have to drive around large trucks. About 25 percent of these drivers said that they would feel less anxious if trucks were outfitted with additional safety technology. Part of the point of the study was to let motorists know that these technologies were available and that they could prevent serious accidents from occurring. Ultimately, adding the safety technology to large consumer trucks would be a major win for both other drivers and the trucking industry.

Trucking accidents can be caused by many different things. For example, an inattentive or unqualified truck driver could cause a serious truck accident by driving unsafely or too fast. When track accidents do occur, the weight and size of the vehicle is likely to cause serious injuries for those who are driving regular passenger vehicles or smaller trucks. The likelihood of a fatality occurring may also be higher. A personal injury attorney may be able to file a claim against the driver of the truck and the trucking company in order to seek compensation for medical costs and potentially even pain and suffering depending on the severity of the injuries.

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